Tales of an Eastern Wonderland
by OfficialTRXD
Summary: 'Let me tell you something, sir. This ain't your home.' The young woman explained with such distrust towards me. 'This is our world. Gensokyo' - Tales of an Eastern Wonderland follows the story of the Touhou Project creator, ZUN, as he tells the story of a magical world known as Gensokyo and of all its inhabitants. All from his own perspective.


Author Notes: Before I begin, I would like to point out that this is the first fanfic that I have uploaded onto this site. I have done stuff like this before but not on this site. This fanfic is the product of my own random thought processes while I was hanging out with a few friends of mine. I posed the question to my friends: "What would it be like if Touhou was not fiction but an actual piece of reality? That ZUN actually visited the world of Gensokyo?" As a result of that question, this fanfic was born. This is my way of answering that very question. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I will enjoy writing it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Touhou Project. I, OfficialTRXD, am not affiliated with Team Shanghai Alice nor ZUN. I am not ZUN nor do I have any connection or affiliation with him. Touhou Project belongs to Team Shanghai Alice and its respective owner(s).

* * *

Foreword - Reflection of Lost Past

* * *

For the past two decades, I have gone from a graduate at a technology school, to an employee at Taito, to a world-famous independent game developer. With little to my name and barely any experience, I began selling games at conventions only for a massive cult-following to follow within a decade. It was surprising. Never in my line of work did I expect to see something like this take off in such a massive way.

For those who have acquired this journal of mine, my name is Jun'ya Ota. But many people know me by my other name, ZUN. I am regarded as the creator of the famous Touhou Project, a series of danmaku games which tells the tale of fiction girls battling in a magical world that is connected to our own. A land where myths are real and old folk tales come to life. And each living being having their own story to tell and a variety of abilities and powers. Of course, people think that the games are merely a work of fiction. Something that I created by using clever writing and pre-established concepts to create a fictional world. But that is only what they believe.

Before you begin reading this journal of mine, I must warn you. What is contained within these pages may change your perspective on reality and upon Touhou. If you are a fan of my Touhou Project, I must ask that you put this journal away or risk having your views on Touhou and upon myself changed permanently. What you are about to read is a journal of my experiences and story in another world. A world unlike our own and yet all too familiar. These are my tales of an Eastern Wonderland.

* * *

Chapter 1 - End of Perception

* * *

Before the Touhou games were even conceived, I was a student at Tokyo Denki University at the age of 19. At Denki, I studied in the Department of Science and Engineering where I learned to program and code video games and computer applications. The day was September 18th 1995, the day in which I was attending the last official class of the course. I sat in one of the main lecture halls of Denki's Science department revising old topics covered in the past along with some last-minute extra information that might come in handy. Of course, that was only my opinion. Why? Looking back on that lecture, I swear I could have seen the faces of the students slowly fall asleep due to the boredom of the lecture.

'... Remember students, to always know what architecture you are working with. While most of you do use PC-98s, keep in mind that you do not get confused between what tools may be used for the system and what is not compatible. And that concludes our final lecture, students.' the teacher called out through the lecture hall. As the words echoed through the populated room, I could see the faces of the students sat around me light up. Class was over. Or so we thought before the teacher called out once more.

'Now before you are all permitted to leave, I must remind you that the deadline for the final course project is coming up. For those of you who may have forgotten, the final course project is a simple one. Your task is to develop a game. It does not matter as to whether or not you work in teams or what game you make. The project only specifies that you make a game for the PC-98 platform. Your project will then be assessed for uniqueness, functionality, well-documentation of the game's development and concepts, use of what we have covered in the course, and of course entertainment.' The words dictated out to the class rung in my ears. The course project. I had completely forgotten about the whole thing. I was too busy studying to even think about an idea for the thing. And here I believed that the course would go as smoothly as it did last year. 'With that last detail made clear, you are now dismissed.' the teacher proclaimed as he made a gesture of dismissal.

As soon as the final word escaped from the teacher's mouth, students simultaneously rose up and began to file out of the lecture hall. Like sand funnelling through an hourglass. It was always amusing to watch. To see everyone so eagerly leave the hall to go about their business. Either returning to their homes, heading to computer labs to work on their projects, or simply hanging out with friends. But as I saw every student file out, a thought lingered in my mind. This was really the final time that I would see something like this again. And little did I know how right I was. In more than one way.

'Yo, Jun!' a voice called out to me. I turned my head around to see that in the corridors leading from the hall was my friend, Satoshi. A simple man with simple tastes but he knew how to have fun. As carefully as I could, I shifted my way through the crowd and up to Satoshi. Despite the occasional bumping with other students and the few calls of "Watch it!" or "Stop pushing!" I was still capable of making my way to Satoshi. As soon as I caught up to him, we began to walk down the corridors of the university building. Our destination, outside.

'So… You finished classes then?' Satoshi asked in his curiosity and attempts to spark up a conversation. I turned to Satoshi and let out a heaving sigh.  
'Yeah. But the thing is… I now have to work on my project.' I explained to Satoshi. 'Make a game or something.' Satoshi tilted his head as he listened to me. It was obvious that, like me, Satoshi was unaware of the project.  
'Wait. We have a project?!' Satoshi exclaimed. I swear I could have seen the heads of the thinning crowd turn towards us as Satoshi yelled out his question in surprise. The murmurs of the crowd turned from regular chatter to gossip about the two of us. From things like "Who are those two?" or "Gees… Don't want to hang around with those guys." It was fairly obvious that Satoshi's behaviour was not appreciated around here. 'You mean like… Like a coursework project or something?' Satoshi continued. I instantly shook my head as I realised that he was completely unaware of the project.  
'Satoshi? Were you… Were you sleeping through the lecture or something?'  
'I wasn't. It was just… hard to… hear him.' Satoshi hesitantly explained as he scratched his back in slight embarrassment.  
'Hey, let me tell you something. I'm not ready for this project either. I only just found out about it.' Satoshi immediately perked up as he realised that he was in the same boat as me. His visual signs were obvious. He wore his emotions like it was a coat. If it weren't for that, I didn't know how well I could have gotten on with him.  
'You got any ideas for the thing?' Satoshi excitedly asked me. 'You gonna make a platformer? A fighter? A… visual novel?' Satoshi let out with a light giggle.

Dismissing the joke immediately, I began to think about what game I wanted to make. It was strange. Although I love to play games, I didn't know what to make. There were a whole host of games to choose from and even new ones to invent and innovate in. And yet I had no idea. The task for the project was a simple one. Make a game for the PC-98. But what would I choose to make? What if I had an idea for one game but then a greater idea came into my head? I would mostly restart the project and work around that one idea instead. Or what if my idea came to a dead-end? That I run out of things to make and I get completely derailed? Or that my idea is too complicated to create? I had to think of idea that was both possible and solid. And none of my ideas fit those criteria. If I had any at all.

'Honestly...' I began to explain. 'I have no idea. I can't think of something that I would make.'  
'Well, that's simple.' Satoshi countered. 'You just gotta make a game that you want to make. Something that you like the idea of while still being able to enjoy the game. And if that don't work, why not make a game based upon your experiences?' I quickly dismissed what Satoshi had to say. Make a game I want to make? That would be simple if I even knew what I wanted to make. I literally had no ideas. Did I want to make a game about a knight rescuing a princess? A vampire slayer? A game about construction? I had nothing. And here Satoshi was explaining to me how I should go about making a game. But later would I realise how great those words would become in the future. As to how those words would change it all.

As soon as Satoshi finished with what he had to say, we found ourselves outside of the Engineering Building. Right at the entrance to the building. It was a miracle to see how quickly the two of us could make it out of the building from the lecture hall. Usually, the walks would have taken several minutes or so. But it felt only like seconds.  
'So...' Satoshi stated. 'Looks it's time to get going. I'm gonna head back to my place. I'll see ya around, Jun.' And with that, Satoshi dashed off while waving his hand in the air. Across the front plaza and down the street, Satoshi ran back to his apartment leaving only me at the entrance. And like Satoshi, I too began to make my way home.

As I walked through the front plaza, I couldn't help but stare at the scenery around me. The browning of the leaves on the trees. How the leaves made their slow descent from the ends of the branches down to the soft floor. The distinct coloured bricks beneath my feet. And the solid white walls that marked the boundaries of the university campus. It was a calm and peaceful sight amongst the chaos that was my thought processes and the traffic in the nearby streets. Continuing my walks, I began to think deeper about what I should do for my game. But with every idea came a flaw and with that flaw came problems which in turn caused me to drop my ideas.

It was hopeless.

I clenched my fist as my thoughts became deeper and deeper. My ideas becoming wilder as I desperately tried to find the answer. The one game I could create. One to outdo the others. One I could truly call my own. But no matter how much I tried, I could not think of one. Not one solid idea.  
'Why I can't even think of an idea for a simple game?' I asked openly, hoping no-one was present to listen to me. Nothing. Only the chatter of nearby students and pedestrians, and the rustling of leaves. I quickly gave up on searching for an answer and continued my walk.

As I continued my walk, an ominous breeze brushed against me. It was cold and... unnatural. Like a fan blowing against my skin but not as harsh. Picking up in pace, the wind cause more chaos in its ominous and unnatural breeze. The leaves flying off its branches and my clothes flapping around as the harsh wind continued. And then all of a sudden, the wind stopped. But that was not all. Everything stopped. The leaves stopping in their descent, the people passing by stopped in their tracks. Not because they chose to but because of what was going on. Time felt as if it stopped. The world slowing to a halt and all life stopping before the events that were transpiring around me. Either time itself had ceased to exist or all existence had stopped to look at me. Eventually, all colours began to leak away. Like liquid leaving a bottle. It was not an even change but it was shocking one regardless. The orange of the leaves drained away into nothing but grey. The sky reduced to a colourless white. The world was left with only black, white, and shades of grey. Like an old movie or a picture without saturation. The only thing that was not affected was me. I was still in my colours. My blue jeans, my beige flat cap, my deep green shirt, and my dark brown glasses. All of them retaining colour. It was surreal. I felt like I was in a dream or that I was massively hallucinating. I wanted to run away. I wanted it to stop but at the same time my curiosity wanted me to merely observe. I was divided between my curiosity into the events taking place and my fear of the unknown. Why did all of the colour disappear anyway? And furthermore, why would I remain unaffected? Once the colour had gone, the light around me disappeared as well. The world getting darker and darker and so too did my vision.

The world around me faded away into nothingness.

I don't know how long it took before I lost all consciousness. I could not tell anyway. The senses in my body very quickly went away and, for all I knew, I could have been awake for the whole time or I could have passed out as soon as the light went out. Nothing felt real anymore.

I felt nothing.


End file.
